I am SO SORRY for the delay in getting this to you O.o I've been on a school camp. It was lots of fun :D :D :D but yeah...I couldn't write :'D

I have a poll on my profile :) could you please vote on it if you have the time? O.o thank you :D *glomps*

Anyway, here is the twenty-sixth chaptei ;D Thanks again so much for reading! I love you guys *_*

Naturally, Kaiba had tried using the KaibaCorp DuelDisk system to track Slater's location by Dempsey's DuelDisk, on the assumption that the two of them were together. This idea was short-lived; of the hundreds of registered DuelDisk users, there was no 'Stephen Dempsey' among them, and to identify a false I.D. could have taken days. There was no choice but to meet Slater in Paris.

Thankfully, Paris itself was an easy distance from England.

It took them another two stiflingly silent hours in the rented car to reach London again, during which Yugi could only feel utterly alone. The knowledge that his closest friends were all in the car with him was a relief, but the complete and utter lack of dialogue in the two hours following their encounter with Slater had the same effect as having been alone.

Unlike on the way to Stonehenge, it wasn't Kaiba's presence in the car that was the cause of the silence, although it certainly didn't help knowing that his scrutinising eyes were continuously darting from the road to his unconscious little brother to each of them in turn. Yugi knew that the main reason was that none of them could think of what to say. Having this friends there with him was simply enough.

Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet was waiting for them when they arrived back in London. Yugi sighed with relief when they saw it; it would make the trip to France much quicker than any other conventional method of transport, even with the added time of returning to London from Stonehenge.

Kaiba still didn't speak to them when he gathered up Mokuba in his arms and carried him ahead to the jet. Yugi and his friends hung back, walking toward the jet more slowly.

It didn't take them long to be settled into the jet again. Without further ado, Kaiba was in the cockpit and the jet was taking off.

Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Téa and Bakura settled down in the cargo hold. They would have less than twenty minutes of time together before the jet reached Paris.

Yugi sighed. Suddenly remembering something, he opened his duffel bag and withdrew the Millennium Ring. "I guess you want this back."

"Thanks, Yugi," Bakura said gratefully, taking the Ring from Yugi and placing the cord around his neck.

There was a moment of silence.

"Slater won't have much time to prepare for us before we get there," Joey said. "I mean, he pretty much picked a location out of thin air. Not to mention that with this jet there's every chance of arriving in France before he does."

Yugi scuffled his feet. "We won't have much time once we get there before morning. Even with the head start, we have to wait for Slater to prepare the game, and there's every chance that he'll do it tomorrow."

"How do you suppose we'll know when to go?" Téa asked.

Yugi thought about this. It was a question he had been wondering himself ever since they had left Stonehenge. In the first round he had been kidnapped, the second Slater had sent a letter to Téa and Amber's apartment, the third had been a trap to lure Bakura and the fourth had just...happened.

"I suppose we could climb to the top and wait," Yugi said, thinking aloud. "Like we did with Stonehenge. That would mean we'd quite possibly arrive before Slater."

"Why are we even going at all?" Tristan wanted to know. "We can't seriously just throw ourselves into another one of Slater's traps. We have four Millennium Items; if we stand our ground, he'll come to us eventually on our own ground."

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. "I doubt it'll be that easy, Tristan. I mean, just look at what he did for the Millennium Puzzle." He absentmindedly picked it up with one hand. "He came to me, alright; but I ended up in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. At least if we go to the Eiffel Tower, we'll be somewhere more public, and that usually means safer." He hesitated. "Usually."

"So, it's agreed," Bakura said. "We're all going up to the tower together. The only question is when."

"He might send some kind of message like he did in America," Téa pointed out. "Or we may have to guess, like in Stonehenge."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but whatever the case is, I sure could use some shut-eye before we go," Joey said, yawning. "I feel like I haven't slept in weeks."

Now that Joey had brought it up, Yugi could feel it too; the last time any of them had slept had been short, uncomfortable snatches of it in this very cargo hold on the way over from New York. Whether he liked it or not, his body was crying out for sleep.

But he couldn't envision sleeping at a time like this; tired as he was, Yugi was too tense, too restless, to even consider closing his eyes, let alone give away to unconsciousness.

Yugi stared at his feet, an idea already forming in his mind. It was a horrible, cruel, traitorous idea, but one he could - shockingly easily - see himself going through with. Double-cross his friends.

As much as he hated himself for so much as thinking it, it was the perfect solution. He knew his friends; they would stand by him no matter when or where he led them. It was this trait that made Yugi realise just how wonderful they really were; after all, it wasn't any ordinary friends who would allow their spirits to be taken back in time five thousand years, or to risk their minds in a virtual prison, or any of the other innumerable instances in which his friends had stood by his side during moments when Yugi needed them.

And it was this trait that meant Yugi couldn't let them come with him. He was sick of letting them risk their lives for him. His last Shadow Game had proven to him just how fragile their souls could be.

"I guess you're right, Joey," Yugi said. "We all need rest if we're going to face Slater. When we get there, we should find somewhere to sleep."

And so that was his plan; when they arrived in Paris, while the others were sleeping, he would go out without them and go to the Eiffel Tower.

And somehow, he just knew that Slater would be there.

It was almost dawn.

Nothing really seemed out of place upon their arrival; it was a smooth landing executed by Kaiba in the Paris Airport and as a billionaire, it was easy for him to explain away their sudden unexpected arrival there.

He turned up his nose when Joey so much as mentioned the word sleep. Yugi had to wonder if Kaiba even slept at all. Judging by the amount of work he claimed to get done on a daily basis, probably not.

"Listen, Wheeler; you can just slack it off if you want, but I'm going to find Slater," he said dismissively.

Joey was instantly on the defensive. "Shut up, Kaiba; just because you don't think you're a human doesn't mean you aren't one. Don't try telling me you're not-"

Kaiba snorted. "Wheeler, if you even knew half of what my life is like, you would have learned to forget the very meaning of the word 'sleep'. But if it makes you happy, fine. You and your friends can waste your time; I'll even let you stay in the cargo hold if it means I don't need to hear you preach about humanity." He made no attempt to disguise the sneer in his last word.

It was then settled. Yugi and his friends would remain in the cargo hold and get some rest, while Kaiba...

Yugi didn't know what Kaiba planned to do. They hadn't mentioned the Tower specifically, but he clearly had some kind of plan as to how he was going to find Slater himself.

Yugi was exhausted – there was no denying it. Despite this, he found it no difficulty to lie and stay awake while the rest of his friends nodded off one by one. Tristan was the first to go, followed by Téa, Bakura and finally Joey.

Yugi was reminded of a similar instance when they had been up against Dartz and the Oricalcos. He had snuck away like a theif in the dead of night.

And he had lost his soul. He had very nearly never seen any of them again.

He gulped. Was that going to happen now? Atem was gone; if anything happened to Yugi in his next game with Slater, there would be nobody to step in and help him. He was going to be on his own this time.

Trying not to think about the four people all sleeping unaware in the surrounding cargo hold, Yugi slowly got to his feet. He felt incredibly stiff.

The cargo hold door seemed deafening when it slid open. Despite this, none of his friends seemed to notice it. They just carried on sleeping.

Biting back his fears, Yugi stepped out onto the ground of the hanger where the jet was parked. There was nobody in sight.

He made for the exit, wondering how long it would be before anyone noticed his absence.

His question was answered not long after by a voice behind him. No time at all.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Yugi spun around to face Seto Kaiba, standing a few feet away. "Kaiba! What are you doing here?"

Kaiba looked at him. "I've been here the whole time; hacking into the city's security systems with my laptop. I've got the entire airspace above Paris, not to mention most of the city, under surveillance. Slater isn't getting anywhere without me knowing about it."

Yugi didn't know how effective that would be, especially since Kaiba had never seen Slater in person, but Kaiba himself seemed to hold great faith in it. Yugi bit his lip.

"I asked you a question, Yugi; where are you going?"

"To face Slater," Yugi said matter-of-factly. "He's going to be at the Eiffel Tower, on the third level. That's what he told us. And I'm going alone."

"No you're not."

Yugi blinked, confused. "You're not going to wake my friends," he said instantly. "You just can't; they'll come along, and they don't know what they're getting-"

Kaiba sniffed. "Who said anything about your friends? I have my own reason for needing to deal with Slater, and if you're going after him, I'm coming with you."

All Yugi could do was stare. "Oh...thanks, Kaiba."

Kaiba returned to where he had been sitting, just out of sight, and picked up his computer. "Don't thank me; I'm not doing it for you."

I SAID 'IN AMERICA'! MY LIFE IS NOW MADE!

Please review :D I know this was a pretty short chapter considering how long it's taken me to update, but...D:

Anywaysah, Chapter Twenty-Seven shouldn't be too long ;D Thank you so much for reading as far as this ~.~ you are full of amazabubbletasicfulness.

See you soon ;D

~IA